PSY 135 Journal Article Critique

PSY 135 - "Living With Loss, Death and Grief"

Project - Journal Publications

PURPOSE

To acquaint the student with scholarly publications
of technical reading and to analyze the focus of journal articles.

METHOD

Select a topic which is of interest to you and falls within the content of this course.
Review three (3) scholarly publication articles that deal with the subject you have selected.
Some articles will present theoretical issues related to a particular topic
and others will be research studies related to the topic.

Your reviews must incorporate the following three (3)sections
with each labeled by name.

A. SUMMARY

Purpose of the research.
Hypothesis or research questions.
Methodology - What did the researchers do?

B. CRITIQUE

Was the methodology adequate?
If it was an experiment, was there lack of control in the experiment?
Did the author define clearly the important terms in the study or
did he/she use description of the variables investigated?
Do the results of the study justify the conclusions reached by the author?
Can you suggest any alternative conclusions that might be justified by the results?

C. PERSONAL REACTION

Did the article contribute to your understanding of the subject
and to our course content?
Did you find the article interesting?
Is the article relevant?
(Sometimes people do research which is beautifully set up, tightly controlled, etc., but of limited use.)
Did the article surprise you in any way or change any feelings or opinions
you had about the subject prior to reading the article?
Additional comments, if any.

NOTE

If you read an article dealing with different theoretical positions,
as opposed to a research study, much of the material listed under SUMMARY AND CRITIQUE will not be relevant. If you read an article dealing with theoretical issues, it probably will be more meaningful to do so after you have reviewed some research.

LENGTH/FORMAT

Each of your 3 reviews must be at least 2 pages in length, typed and double spaced.

Label each section of your analysis as above, A through C.

Include in your Project pages a copy of the first page of the scholarly article, noting on it (if this information is not on the copy) the source, title, author (if any), and date the article was published.

Use a cover page that includes the
- project name,
- your name,
- date, and the
- course name, number and section number (PSY 135.TC).
Staple all pages of your Project together.

Do not use a binder or folder as it cannot be returned.

Return to Project Sources.